DATE: Saturday, February 24, 2007
LOCATION: Hagg Lake Park, near Gaston, Oregon
In Oregon we have an Ultramarathon series called the “Oregon Trail Ultra Marathon Series”. It’s a series that has about 12 races around the state (mostly on the west side of the state). I had run the Mt Hood PCT 50k, which is one of the races in the series. Hagg Lake is one of them as well, and the closest to my house, so I figured I would give it a try. This race is called Hagg Mud, because being in February it’s usually very muddy and wet.
The days leading up to the race were rainy and I knew it would be a tough run. I remember packing extra socks and a plastic bag for my to-be shoes. The course is a double loop around the lake (14 miles each) plus a 3 mile out-and-back. So the reason for bring extra socks is so I could change after the first loop (which I did). The first loop was as muddy as I have ever run before. The mud on the trail was a sucking mud that wanted to remove my shoes. It was really hard at times to run, because you are constantly pulling your foot out of the trail. I can’t remember my time after the first loop, but I think it may have worse than the second.
The second loop was quite a bit different than the first. The second loop was a wet mud. There were huge puddles and you couldn’t help but getting your feet wet. This in a lot of ways made it easier, because while my shoes were covered in mud in the first loop, in the second they were washed. I didn’t have a huge goal for this race, but given the conditions I just wanted to finish. I ran the 50k in 6:18:27. I was told that it was the worst conditions for the race in the 5 year history.
LOCATION: Hagg Lake Park, near Gaston, Oregon
In Oregon we have an Ultramarathon series called the “Oregon Trail Ultra Marathon Series”. It’s a series that has about 12 races around the state (mostly on the west side of the state). I had run the Mt Hood PCT 50k, which is one of the races in the series. Hagg Lake is one of them as well, and the closest to my house, so I figured I would give it a try. This race is called Hagg Mud, because being in February it’s usually very muddy and wet.
The days leading up to the race were rainy and I knew it would be a tough run. I remember packing extra socks and a plastic bag for my to-be shoes. The course is a double loop around the lake (14 miles each) plus a 3 mile out-and-back. So the reason for bring extra socks is so I could change after the first loop (which I did). The first loop was as muddy as I have ever run before. The mud on the trail was a sucking mud that wanted to remove my shoes. It was really hard at times to run, because you are constantly pulling your foot out of the trail. I can’t remember my time after the first loop, but I think it may have worse than the second.
The second loop was quite a bit different than the first. The second loop was a wet mud. There were huge puddles and you couldn’t help but getting your feet wet. This in a lot of ways made it easier, because while my shoes were covered in mud in the first loop, in the second they were washed. I didn’t have a huge goal for this race, but given the conditions I just wanted to finish. I ran the 50k in 6:18:27. I was told that it was the worst conditions for the race in the 5 year history.
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